iWear AV310 Widescreen

by Vuzix Corp.

Product Details

• Item Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• ASIN: B001IAZYXY
• Item model number: 284T30011
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #89 in Electronics > Televisions & Video > Video Glasses
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 5, 2003

Product Description

The AV310 Widescreen from Vuzix transforms your small video screen into a large 16:9 widescreen home theater with a virtual 52-inch display. Worn like regular glasses, the AV310 Widescreen is compatible with all audio/video devices with composite video-out and includes independent focal adjustments for each eye and removable stereo headphones.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not perfect, but a great product!, January 24, 2009

By 

Impatient by nature "Weird Movie Buff" (Pacific Northwet, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: iWear AV310 Widescreen (Electronics)

For starters, I'm 6'-6" and somewhere north of 275 lbs., so I'm a 2XL-tall person; if I had a normal-sized head it would look like a tangerine on a mannequin. The AV310s fit my head just fine, not perfect (none of the one-size-fits-some stuff does) but not uncomfortable by any means, and the angle-adjust on the viewing screen portion of the headset helps a bunch.

The photo dude must be smoking crack. News flash: AV310s aren't "true" hi-def but the aspect ratio is right and the enhanced definition make it a very good substitution. Plus the color, contrast, etc., are adjustable to taste. If you're expecting 1080p from 1.5" LCDs, give me a call when you get back from Pluto.

I spent six years working in commercial broadcast TV. Are the AV310s "perfect"? Nope, but for a first-generation product they're great and I've got zero complaints as far as picture quality (because I have elevated, but reasonable, expectations). Most people would or will agree.

Here's why I love them: I'm a road warrior who travels over 100,000 miles a year. I can easily and comfortably watch movies on the AV310s even when I'm sitting in the cattle car, the putz in front of me reclines his seat back all the way and my knees are up around my ears. Not true of my laptop or even smaller-screen, dedicated DVD players I've owned.

If I don't get an emergency exit row, forget about my laptop, and some of the airlines do the sardine routine so bad even the 7" DVD player isn't usable for me. There just isn't enough space. I could watch the AV310s in any phone booth in Beijing (most of which, in fairness, have more space than airline passenger seats today).

With the AV310s I don't get a sore back and neck or headaches from sitting for hours with my neck and eyes locked in one position watching an image on a fixed screen. I can move my head in any direction and the screen comes with me.

I can see around them and interact with stewardesses for beverage or food service or whatever. Or I can use the shades and block everything else out (best picture quality under these conditions).

Finally, I'm not a fan of porn, but there's some pretty raunchy visuals in a lot of the more popular rancid comedies I tend to enjoy (think "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" or "Pineapple Express"). Personally, I don't care to share such images with the people sitting around me, or their kids. Regardless of what I'm watching, having people peeking over my shoulder creeps me out in general anyway. Presto! Problem solved!

Because so few people have them, there's still a "Wow!" factor to them that's kind of a hoot too (although I generally decline requests from others to put them on, since they're adjusted to my feeble close-vision eyesight).

Bottom line: I'm an early adopter so the price doesn't bug me at all. I've had the AV310s for a couple months now (and four biz trips) so I've had the chance to use them in the field. I love them and I'm 150% glad I bought them. I'm perfectly satisfied with this first generation, and can't wait to see what's coming in the future!

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Portable Video, January 29, 2009

By 

Stuart Steele (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: iWear AV310 Widescreen (Electronics)

Like one of the other reviewers, I am fairly large ( 6'-4", 7 3/4 hat size, 77mm intraocular distance ). I also wear glasses for moderate nearsightedness ( -4 left/-4.5 right ). The Vuzix 310 Widescreen glasses fit, work, and can be adjusted to accommodate my nearsightedness, and are just barely wide enough to accommodate my intraocular spacing if I seat them as close to my face as possible ( I think that they are designed for 73.5mm ). I would imagine that the glasses will work for anyone my size or less.

The virtual image is exactly as described, approximately equal to a 52" screen at 9 feet. The image looks like watching standard definition television, say a 32" set at 6 or 7 feet, with the same slightly muted color saturation SD TV had. It is not an HD experience, but it is wholly engaging and watchable. I can read all of the text, there is no screen buzz or image rolling, and the sound from the built-in headphones is adequate, though I do use external headphones.

There is nothing unusual or fatiguing about wearing the glasses or watching video. Vuzix supplies a strap for holding the glasses close to the head, which I use, but even without the strap, the glasses do not tend to shift, slide down, or flop. The weight is not bothersome ( or even really noticeable ). The optics are well-enough aligned that I experience no distress from watching video for longish periods. In short, neither the weight nor the optics themselves will cause headaches or other discomfort.

I am very pleased with this product, and would recommend it to others. It allows me to watch video on my iPod on a giant-seeming virtual screen, rather than the dinky 2" screen on the iPod itself.

Three Weeks and about 15 Movies Later...
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These are still great. I have worn them for perhaps 25 hours now, and they cause no eyestrain. I wear them at the gym, and they do not move around, or slide off, or get soaked with sweat. I get about 4 to 4.5 hours or battery life out of regular batteries, and 2.5 to 3 out of an old set of NiMh batteries.

Several Months Later ....
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I recently purchased the light shield LIGHT SHIELD, AV230/IP230/DV920. IN (MP0001130) for these video glasses, which blocks out stray light. These substantially improve the color and contrast, and I highly recommend them.

Well more than a year later ....
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These are still going strong, though I have snapped the left temple somehow (I fixed it with gaffers tape). There has been no degradation in quality over time, nor any condensation or water damage to the prisms or screens themselves, even though the glasses get pretty well sweat-soaked whenever I wear them (30 minutes on the elliptical machine at the gym). I have discovered that the lithium batteries last for 20 hours or more, so I have stopped trying to fool with rechargeable batteries.

Yet later still....
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I just noticed that I indicated that my intraocular distance is 77 millimeters in the original review, which is incorrect. This should read 70 millimeters. From the literature, it appears that these glasses have an intraocular distance of 60mm, so 70mm is clearly past the intended audience, though as noted above, there is only a bit of vignetting.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 1st video eyewhere okay, October 28, 2008

By 

Mark (Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: iWear AV310 Widescreen (Electronics)

These are amazing. Glad I got them. Wish I had a 3D movie to try them with.

I've had these, my first pair of video glasses, for a week now. The widescreen strikes me as nicer than regular glasses. The controls are easy to use. Initially I wanted the raised characters on the buttons to be highlighted/colored: after a little use, I didn't need it. The side pieces on the glasses are too short on me and turn inward enough at the ends that they poke. The hinges move in many directions, allowing a large range of adjustments. There is no way to tighten or loosen the hinges though, so my glasses shift if I jostle them. Being able to use the AV310WA without wearing glasses, thanks to the +2 to -4 adjust, is great. My son's eyesight is a poor -8, but he says the focus is good enough to at least use it. Brightness, contrast, saturation, and hue are all adjustable and had a good range of adjustment. Sound quality was fine. The loose earpieces can be removed for when using with separate headphones (ear cup headphones may press the the side pieces in more than you like). You have to connect to the audio source yourself: there is not a 3.5mm socket to bypass the earpieces and feed the audio to your own set. Great that the set includes iPod and RCA adaptors. I ordered a separate S video connector and hard case.